The Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology represented U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the National Agricultural Communicators Symposium in Oklahoma City in February and swept the People's Choice awards.

The conference was held in partnership with the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists with various agricultural disciplines meeting. Several AECT students participated in research poster and paper presentations.

Caitlin Cooper was awarded the 2023 NACS People's Choice Completed Research Poster with the project titled "Landowners' Perceptions of Conservation Easements: Implications for Effective Persuasive Communication" by Cooper, Professor Jefferson Miller, Lauren Gwaltney and Shane White. 

Karli Yarber won the 2023 NACS People's Choice Innovative Poster with the project titled "Connecting Communication Theory to Practice Through Podcasts."

AECT was represented with four different poster presentations and a paper presentation. Research and student presenters (in bold) with faculty advisers:

• "The Original Facetime: Communication Preferences in Agriculture Marketing and Customer Service" - Hannah C. Ferguson, Ashlyn Ussery, Jefferson Miller, associate professor Jill Rucker and instructor Casandra Cox
• "Landowners' Perceptions of Conservation Easements: Implications for Effective Persuasive Communication" - Cooper, Miller, Gwaltney and White
• "A Qualitative Look at Factors Affecting Persuasive Messaging about Adopting Conservation Easements" - White, Miller, Cooper and Gwaltney
• "A Qualitative Analysis of Blogger Perceptions and Experiences in the Protein Industry" - Yarber, Miller, Kylie Hackworth, Rucker and Cox
• "Connecting Communication Theory to Practice Through Podcasts" - Yarber and Miller

The National Agricultural Communicators Symposium is made up of university instructors and professionals (primarily land-grant) agricultural communicators. The group meets in conjunction with the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists to present and hear research focused on issues related to agricultural and applied communication research, strategies and practice.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.